What happened to the New York Jets offense in Cincinnati?

Michael Nania looks back at the Jets offense's highly disappointing six-point effort in a Week 13 loss to the winless Cincinnati Bengals. The New York Jets had breathed life back into what was becoming a nightmare of a season. Following a 1-7 start, the Jets rattled off three straight wins, claiming victory by a margin of three-plus scores in each of the latter two. Sam Darnold finally got into a groove, and the offense followed suit. Darnold posted a 117.2 passer rating over the winning streak, while the offense averaged 29.3 points per game. Next up on the schedule? A date with the 0-11 Cincinnati Bengals in southwestern Ohio. The table was set for the Jets to win a fourth consecutive game for the first time since 2015. Alas, that was not meant to be. The Jets went into Cincinnati and put forth one of their most dreadful performances of the decade, falling by a score of 22-6 to give the Bengals their first win. It was the second time in a five-week span that the Jets lost to a winless team, having been defeated by the 0-7 Dolphins in Week 9. A good portion of onlookers was of the belief that Darnold's poor performance was the primary reason that the Jets scored a measly six points. He averaged just 5.0 yards per attempt and posted a 71.4 passer rating, snapping his three-game stretch of sublime production. Other facets of the offense surely got their share of criticism, but as the starting quarterback behind it all, Darnold got the brunt of the blame. When you dive into the film, it is clear that Darnold was far from the problem. In fact, the Jets' lack of offensive production was the fault of nearly every other person on the offensive side not named Sam Darnold. I analyzed Darnold's individual performance against the Bengals in detail here. Today, we will be delving into some of the issues around Darnold that led to the dreary offensive output in Cincy. 2ND & 7 AT CIN 28 (Q1, 10:01) Drops were a major problem for the Jets in this game. Pro Football Focus tallied five of them. The Jets were on their merry way to what would have been their sixth consecutive game with an opening-drive touchdown, but Braxton Berrios killed the drive with a brutal drop. Darnold takes advantage of the vacated space to his right, creating a wide-open throwing lane. He leads Berrios towards the sideline but Berrios flubs the easy would-be first-down catch. 3RD & 7 AT CIN 28 (Q1, 09:56) While we will mostly be focusing on non-Darnold issues in this game, it is only fair to highlight at least one of Darnold's mistakes. He was far from perfect in this game. You can see a few more of his worst plays here. On the next play following Berrios' drop, Darnold gets the ball to Robby Anderson on a drag. Anderson is brought down well shy of the first down marker. Darnold should have gotten this ball to Jamison Crowder (circled), who has room to the right side as his defender gives a soft cushion. Darnold got a (rare) clean pocket, too, so he had plenty of time to make that extra read. 3RD & 2 AT NYJ 28 (Q1, 05:31) Back to our regularly-scheduled program of Darnold being let down by his teammates. On this third and short play, Anderson (circled) opens up on a post. Crowder (slot left) also gets open across the middle. Darnold does not receive enough time to get the ball to either receiver as Carlos Dunlap destroys Brandon Shell with a bull-rush and gets the sack. 1ST & 10 AT CIN 40 (Q2, 06:41) Darnold steps up from the pressure allowed by Tom Compton and fires to Demaryius Thomas on a deep post. The ball is placed in a good spot, but Thomas fails to get there because he slowed down at the top of his route. It is somewhat of a testament to Darnold's quick release. A receiver should never give up on a route like Thomas did there, but from his perspective, Darnold hardly looked ready to throw. Darnold pulled the trigger on that throw in an instant, and from an awkward base. Still, that's no excuse for Thomas. If he stayed at full speed throughout his route, he could have scored. 1ST & 10 AT NYJ 42 (Q2, 01:10) Griffin runs a corner route and Darnold makes a great throw against tight coverage while under pressure (allowed by Shell). Griffin gets both hands on the ball but fails to pull it in. 1ST & 10 AT NYJ 38 (Q3, 11:07) The Jets ran the ball respectably in the first half, with their running backs gaining 43 yards on nine carries (4.8 per attempt). In the second half, that facet of the offense fell apart, gaining 10 yards on six carries (1.7 per attempt). Adam Gase attempted to establish the run to start the second half, calling runs on the first three plays. Those snaps netted -9 yards, and that had nothing to do with the play-calling. The execution was simply terrible. On the first play, the Jets actually blocked well for the most part. Trevon Wesco pulls across and serves up a pancake. Compton pulls and sets the edge. Le'Veon Bell does a good job staying patient to let everything play out. It appears that everything is nicely set up for Bell to record a solid pickup on first down - until Kelvin Beachum allows the 4i-technique defensive tackle to get outside and stuff Bell for just two yards. It goes to show how just one poor block can kill a run play. 2ND & 8 AT NYJ 40 (Q2, 10:35) Beachum was responsible for another stuff on the following play. This play is designed for Bell to get outside, but he is unable to do that as Dunlap schools Beachum with a spin move to get in Bell's face as soon as he takes the ball. Bell is forced to cut back directly into the hands of the defense, as the rest of the offensive line is attempting to seal the defense to the backside. 3RD & 14 AT NYJ 34 (Q3, 09:39) A false start by Compton set the Jets back to 3rd & 14, but that did not stop Gase from running the ball again. Against an extremely light box with only five defenders (just one between the tackles), Bell gets a head of steam and makes two men miss on his way to a 23-yard gain. The history books say that it never happened, though. Another Compton penalty brings the run back. Compton pulls and makes a nice cut block, but he grabs the defender's leg, drawing a flag for holding. Bell's longest official run of the season wound up being just 19 yards. 2ND & 9 AT NYJ 3 (Q3, 05:46) Darnold gets the ball out to Bell in the flat. Beachum is beat with an outside rip move and tries to save face with a grab. He is called for holding, and since it occurred in his own end zone, it's a safety. 1ST & 10 AT NYJ 25 (Q3, 01:15) It does not get quite enough attention how detrimental Jonotthan Harrison was to the Jets offense in both facets throughout 2019. The Cincinnati game was one of his worst outings. Here, Harrison gets bulldozed straight into Darnold's lap, forcing a difficult throw that falls incomplete. 1ST & 10 AT NYJ 36 (Q4, 10:34) Beachum was atrocious in Cincinnati, having easily his worst game of the year. On this play, the Jets hurried to the line after picking up a first down. Beachum sets up too far outside and allows the defensive end to beat him with a side-step. To make up for it, Beachum grabs him and is called for a holding penalty. The Jets are knocked back to 1st & 20. 3RD & 2 AT CIN 46 (Q4, 08:36) Another costly blunder from Harrison. The 3-technique (Andrew Brown, circled) loops inside while the safety blitzes. Alex Lewis recognizes the action immediately, passing Brown off to Harrison and picking up the blitzer. Harrison fails to pick up Brown, allowing immediate pressure. Darnold doesn't get the time he needs to move past his first read and find Griffin for a first down. He attempts to scramble and takes a sack as Lewis did a poor job of neutralizing the blitzer. Harrison prevents an initial sack by taking a holding penalty. Sure, Darnold could have made a magical Mahomes-esque play and flicked the ball to Griffin under pressure, but that's expecting a lot. The quarterback's job is an easy one on this play if the offensive line holds up its end of the bargain. Harrison and Lewis blew their responsibilities, putting Darnold in a difficult position. That sums up the story of this game. Here is how the Jets "supported" Darnold against the Bengals: 5 drops 3 passes batted at the line 7 offensive penalties 3.5 yards per rush attempt 2 rushing first downs Average starting field position of own 18-yard line (worst of all offenses in Week 13) 46.3% pressure rate (fourth-worst of all quarterbacks in Week 13, league average is about 35%) It is tough to ask any quarterback to overcome all of those obstacles, regardless of the opponent. Darnold handled the circumstances admirably. The Cincinnati loss was a picture-perfect display of everything that was wrong with the supporting cast around Darnold in 2019.